Schools Chancellor Carmen Farina spoke at the launch of this summer’s STEM programs at NYU Polytechnic School of Engineering last week, telling students that they are “the answer to all our problems.”

“I do know that there’s a shortage in this country of people to do the science and engineering and technology work, and you are the answers to that,” Farina said to a room full of students and teachers who will be participating in this summer’s programs.

Nearly 500 K-12 students and teachers will participate in 19 STEM education programs across the City.

NYU Polytech will host around 250 students for its second summer of #STEMNOW, teaching courses on topics such as cybersecurity, video games, computer coding and renewable energy.

Fifty teachers will also work with NYU staff this summer to improve STEM classes in their own schools.

“Our experience proves how powerfully we can change students’ lives, particularly by working with their teachers,” NYU School of Engineering President and Dean Katepalli Sreenivasan said.

Farina also noted the importance of getting more women involved in STEM, saying that schools must “convince women that this is sexy” and think about “gender-specific classes,” separating men and women, so that women will feel more comfortable in the classroom.